August 2010

August 31, 2010

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said he doesn't need to see anything else from Tony Romo to know his quarterback is ready for the season opener. It's a reason the Cowboys will rest most of their starters Thursday night.

Romo has completed 26 of 46 passes for 287 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and a 64.3 passer rating in four preseason games. He has taken five sacks.

In three preseason games a year ago, Romo went 24-of-31 for 404 yards, no touchdowns, an interception and a 70.2 passer rating. He took four sacks But in the first regular-season game, he opened by going 16-of-27 against the Bucs for 353 yards and three touchdowns.

Phillips is expecting Romo to have the same sort of game against the Redskins this year.

"I see our quarterback coming on, and I think he’s going to be ready," Phillips said. "I don’t know that Tony tore it up last year in the preseason, but he threw for 353 yards in the first [regular-season] game. I think we have the capabilities of doing it. We’ve got some hard work to do between now and getting ready for this ball game [the season opener] and this team we’re playing I think is awfully tough on defense. It’s going to be a real challenge for us, but they know it. We’ll have a game plan. We’ll have specific things we think we can take advantage of and matchups we think are good, and we’ll try to take advantage of those."

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano wasn't happy with his starters after their preseason loss to the Falcons, and he has decided his starters need more work. They will play against the Cowboys. Wade Phillips announced Tuesday that after considering playing his starters following a 23-7 loss to the Texans that most of the first-teamers will sit Thursday night.

"I have no idea how much the starters will play," Sparano said. "That’s not up to me; that’s up to them. We’ll see how they go. We’re going to go out there and we’re going to play until one way or the other, either I’m satisfied with what I’ve seen or I feel like we’ve gotten the amount of work that I have scheduled for time right now in my head."

Sparano, a former Cowboys assistant coach, was asked a follow-up question about what he wanted to see from his starters and was obviously annoyed.

"We stunk the other night," he said. "I mean can I be any clearer with that? We were not good the other night against Atlanta. I didn’t like any of it. I liked individual performances, so when I feel like, I know what my football team needs to be ready to play. When I feel like we’ve gotten there, whether it’s good, bad, ugly, whatever the case is in this situation. I certainly hope it’s going to be really good, but in my head I have a number of plays that I think some of these guys would still need to play. I’m looking at this fourth preseason game and saying, 'Hey, it’s a game. We get to measure ourselves against somebody else. They keep score and we want to win it.' At the same time, it’s like coming out here and getting 40 more plays of practice one way or the other, depending on who’s playing and how much and any of those things. In my head there’s some people that I have a specific play count for, a specific number of series for, and then there’s other people where I really have none. So I just want to see them play until I’m satisfied with how they play one way or the other.”

It's been a frustrating first two seasons for former TCU safety Stephen Hodge. The Cowboys linebacker has hardly practiced since the Cowboys made him a sixth-round pick in 2009. He has never played in a game -- preseason or regular season.

Hodge injured his knee before training camp last year, tried to practice in training camp and eventually needed microfracture surgery on his left knee. Microfracture is a year-long rehab, and Hodge hasn't hit the year mark yet. On Tuesday, the Cowboys placed him on the physically unable to perform list. It means he will miss at least the first six games of the regular season. They eventually could decide to place him on injured reserve again, or they could waive him.

It was obvious Tuesday that Hodge is tired of being asked when he will return. He's not sure himself.

Linebacker Keith Brooking has a sprained AC joint that will sideline him for a second consecutive game, but he said Tuesday that he was confident it would not prevent him from playing in the season opener against the Redskins.

"My shoulder feels good," Brooking said. "As far as strength goes, soreness, it's very minimal. I have really good strength in it now. In an AC, it's actually putting the pads on and start hitting. Today I get to do that. That'll be a big test. Even if it hurts and it's sore, that comes tomorrow. It's not a major issue with the AC. I've had this problem before. It's something I've played through. It's the one joint in your body you can shoot up with no negative effects longterm. If it does come to that, which standing here right now I don't think it's going to come to that next week, I think the time off was necessary in order for me to kind of approach next week that way and not have to shoot up before the game. ... The ultimate test will be today, after I go out there and practice."

When the Cowboys used their second round pick to select PennState
linebacker Sean Lee, it was clear they hoped he would replace Bobby Carpenter
in pass coverage as part of the nickel package.

Wade Phillips said Tuesday, however, that Lee -- who missed
the first three preseason games with a quad injury -- was not a candidate to replace Carpenter.

“He’s not playing that spot,” Phillips said, and then went
on to say, “Overall he’s got a lot on his plate. He’s working on special teams.
He’s working on base defense. He’s working on our third-down defense and right
now he’s better at the other two than he is at the third. I think he’ll be able
to do it as the year goes on.”

Linebackers Jason Williams and Leon Williams could replace
Carpenter, or the Cowboys might decide to use another safety in the nickel
package.

Four-year veteran defensive back Pat Watkins was officially released on Tuesday. He was outplayed during training camp by rookies Danny McCray and Barry Church.

“We like the safeties that we have,” Wade Phillips said. “Pat’s done a good job for us certainly overall. He came in and played for us and helped us win games. It’s a decision we made. I think somebody will pick him up today. We waived him today. I think somebody will pick him up and he’ll do well.”

The club also placed tight-end John Phillips on injured reserve and linebacker Stephen Hodge on reserve/PUP to get to the league-mandated 75-man roster by today's deadline.

The Cowboys announced a partnership with the Susan B. Komen
foundation to help in the fight against breast cancer.

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A campaign named “I Promise” will encourage fans to promise
to do something in support of the breast cancer cause. “I Promise” Merchandise
will be sold at Cowboys Pro Shop and online at dallascowboys.com and
shopkomen.com.

Komen founder Nancy G. Brinker of Dallas and Charlyn Aikman,
mother of former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, will serve as honorary
captains when the Cowboys host the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 10.

Cowboys fans, of course, are comfortable panicking in preseason. It doesn't matter that the home team has a 2-2 record. The team very simply has not looked good.

But that's outside looking in. From where DeMarcus Ware sits, the view isn't so bad.

"I feel everything is great, to be honest," the Cowboys linebacker said. "I’m glad to be
back here. No more training camp. Getting ready for Miami
and then getting ready for Washington.
Now you have something to really look forward to instead of just hitting each
other and watching each other on film. Now it’s watching Washington,
watching maybe some of this Miami
game and get ready for the season."

The Cowboys were the only team to have training camp in two sites away from home and they also were away from home for the longest. But Ware said that doesn't make them tired -- it makes them ready. And he invoked Bill Parcells' name to make a point.

"Parcells always said he wants you battle hardened," Ware said. "I think
that’s what training camp did for us. Five weeks of training camp, I think
that’s going to help us out throughout the season when there’s hard times in
the fourth quarter, at the end of the season being able to work through those
tough times."

Dez Bryant wasn't talking Tuesday, two days after tweeting that he was going to make his debut in Thursday's preseason game against the Dolphins. Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said that Tuesday afternoon's practice will go a long way in determining whether the first-round draft pick gets on the field.

"Dez hasn’t been determined yet," Phillips said, "more because of physical than anything else. He has not practiced. So today’s practice will go a long way to see where he is. Then, we’ll go from there."

Bryant returned to practice for the first time since July 30 when he injured his right ankle. The Cowboys would like to get him a feel for the speed of the game before throwing him into the fire Sept. 12 against the Redskins, but it is less likely he will play now that Phillips has announced most of the starters won't play Thursday night.

"Let me see what he does in practice and how he looks and then we’ll go from there," Phillips said when asked if he would like to see Bryant play some Thursday. "I would like to see him play with the first group if he’s going to play, but overall that wouldn’t happen. That’s another determining factor."